To Protect Hikari
by Rb
Summary: Takeru will go to any lengths to protect Hikari-chan. Go away Takari fans, this ain't a romance.


It's a Takari! (Kale-san, stop drooling. Yes, this is written because of you. Go out and celebrate.) I don't want to put it in the romance section, because I was discussing romance novels with my friend Alycia last night and we realized that all romance novels have:

a) Tough, buff, rough men with unusually covered eyes and one-syllable names like Jack, Josh, and Sean.  
b) Naive, slender, and somehow voluptuous young women who have never been 'around.'  
c) Much stripping off of shirts and clothing and all that stuff I'm not supposed to know about.

So, because my romances normally consist of:

a) Sort of wimpy but good-natured innocent young gentlemen with normally three-syllable names.  
b) Girls that generally kick butt (literally and figuratively) on a regular basis   
c) Much inner angst and maybe a polite kiss or two.

Besides, the original meaning of the word "romance" was a story too trashy to be written in Latin. I, apparently, do not write romances, because someday, after I've completed another few years of Latin, I'm going to write stories in Latin and try to figure out how to classify them. 

Anyway, this fic is based on Takeru's point of view of episode 13, where Hikari's sucked into that alternate world and Takeru follows her...remember? I'm using the Japanese names because I'm basing this on the Japanese version of the episode, not the English one. However, the dialogue is a mix of the English, Japanese, and things that I'm inserting. This is because I don't speak fluent Japanese, I can barely get the gist of what they're saying after about a dozen times watching the episode, and there's some things I just wanted to fit in here. I don't own Digimon in any language, though, and none of these characters belong to me. However, if anyone wants to belong to me, write me and tell me so! ^_-

I think I've sort of set up Takeru to be a knight in shining armor. ^_^ Sir Takeru of the Round Table...heh...^_^;;

**To Protect Hikari-chan  
by Rb**

I wake up only to find that I've overslept. In a daze, I pull on some clean clothes, get my stuff together, and run out the door. Miyako and Iori have already left for school, but I run in hopes of catching up.  
  
I don't quite reach them, but a block away from the school I find Hikari-chan's familiar figure in front of me. I reach out and touch her on the shoulder to say hello.  
  
"Oniichan?" she gasps, whipping around. I blink. "Takeru?" she says, looking confused, and blushes heavily. "Ohayo!"  
  
Before I can say anything, Daisuke runs up. "Ohayo. Do you two want to be late? Let's go!"   
  
We rush into our classroom just before the final bell and sit down. As the teacher starts discussing math, I sneak glances at Hikari-chan. Then, I start to stare at her openly. She didn't look too good, sort of pale and unfocused.   
  
Suddenly, she starts to waver, as if she is an image on a badly tuned TV. I gasp, stand up, and say "Hikari-chan!"  
  
Everyone looks from me to her. Hikari-chan's back to normal, but...she sways, and falls to the side. One of her friends, Yuki, catches her. The teacher asks if she wants to go to the nurse. Hikari-chan nods and slowly leaves.  
  
For the rest of the morning, all I can think about is her. She's my best friend, and I feel so much like I've let her down. I don't know what's wrong, or if anything is wrong at all, but I need to protect her. I promised Sora that I'd protect her back when I was just a kid in the digital world. I've always tried to protect her since then.   
  
I know that I feel like we're something more than siblings -- not even Yamato-oniichan makes me feel like this. Best friends, perhaps?   
  
When the bell rings for the lunch, Hikari-chan's still not back. Anxious, I run to the nurse's office. She's not there. She's not anywhere I look, not even in the digital world. I've failed. She's gone, and she's hurt, and she left me, and I've failed!  
  
Running down a hallway, I happen to look down -- and see her, sitting alone in the courtyard. Happily, I run down to her -- but as I get close, I see how depressed she looks. I approach her quietly, and stand a few feet away from her miserable body.  
  
Finally, she speaks. "I...the sea..." She speaks of digimon who want to take her to their world, for what purpose she doesn't know' of being too weak to hold them off; of wanting to be stronger like Oniichan...   
  
At this, I explode. "Taichi-san...Taichi-san Taichi-san! Don't compare yourself to him, Hikari-chan! You're just as strong as he is, if not more, we can defeat these--"  
  
But at Hikari-chan's bleak look, I say no more and walk away.   
  
Hikari-chan's got such a defeatist attitude, sometimes. She doesn't believe in what she can do. I believe in her, but it's not enough for her...  
  
I've failed, and I don't know how I could have stopped myself from failing.  
  
I walk slowly into the computer room. The others are all there. Only Patamon notices my preoccupation, but he can't cheer me up.   
  
Tailmon, Hikari-chan's digimon, appears in a huff. "It's Hikari," she gasps. We all turn around to look at her.  
  
Hikari-chan had disappeared before her eyes. I emphathize, in some way; the look in Hikari-chan's eyes had been like she was dead.   
  
Daisuke, our fearless leader, is all for charging in blindly. Miyako can't find Hikari-chan's signal in the digital world. Iori yells for everyone to shut up while he hypothesizes. I can't take it any longer.  
  
"She's not in the digital world," I announce. "The sea..."  
  
I run out, Patamon and Tailmon following me.  
  
The sea's so large. I run up and down the beach, calling "Hikari-chaaaaan," but she doesn't answer. I feel useless. Where is she?  
  
Where is she?  
  
Tailmon tells me that I want to protect Hikari-chan, but she's capable of protecting herself. I know she is, but still, I want to be there for her. I have to be there for her...I promised. I can't go back on my promise now. I feel so useless! Hikari-chan!  
  
"Hikari-chaaaaaaaan!" I yell once more, every fiber of my being hoping to find her. And, as if I called her into existance, she appears..almost as if there was a rip in the fabric of the universe, and she was in the hole.  
  
There's something wrong with her, some part of my mind notes. She looks subtly different than normal, her skin and hair and clothes in shades of grey rather than the vibrant colors of life.  
  
But I put all my thoughts, all my worries, everything behind me and focus on the one thing that's truly important to me: protecting Hikari-chan. I charge, jump forward, floating in mid-air, to reach Hikari-chan.  
  
The world flashes and punches around me. I can't breathe for a moment. When it's over, Patamon and Tailmon are beside me. We're in a world that can't be real, surrounded by various shades of grey.  
  
But then the sweetest voice, a rainbow in itself, shouts "Takeru-kun! Tailmon! I'm all right, come help me!" I look at her, she seems fine if worried and off-color. But she's protecting digimon, black, small, twisted things, from an Airdramon.  
  
"Let's go, Patamon! Digimental up!" I shout as my digivice glows. Patamon's form twists and changes to Pegasmon. I jump on his back. I'll protect you, Hikari-chan...  
  
The Airdramon is fast. Pegasmon is faster. But Airdramon has an advantage -- it doesn't care what it takes down. Even when Pegasmon avoids its blasts, Airdramon will aim for the other digimon Hikari-chan's watching.   
  
"K'so," I curse. "Pegasmon!"  
  
Pegasmon moves us away from the other digimon, and we twist and turn in a deadly dance. Out of nowhere, Tailmon runs up, yelling "Pegasmon!" I grab her in my arms without even a second thought.  
  
"Destroy the Evil Spire so I can evolve!" she says, pointing towards a lighthouse spraying dark light.   
  
With a shout of "Silver Blaze!" Pegasmon attacks the tower. I cheer silently. Tailmon leaps forth into a beam of holy light that opens from the heavens.  
  
"Tailmon, chou-shinka!" she yells as she undergoes the miraculous transformation into the Angel of Light. "Angewomon!"  
  
I'm always amazed, still, when I see Angemon and Angewomon. Amazed and a bit awed that Hikari-chan and I have such wonderful, celestial protectors.  
  
Pegasmon and Angewomon make short work of the Airdramon. While Angewomon heals the rest of the digimon that Hikari-chan had been protecting, Pegasmon deposits me farther down the beach.  
  
Suddenly, a commotion. As the holy light has died away, the creatures are...changing? Shifting? Morphing? I start running, as I see one of them grabbing Hikari-chan's arm.  
  
"Don't hurt Hikari-chan!" I yell, but I'm no use. Hikari-chan cries out pitifully for someone to help her, and I feel like dirt, I'm not there, I can't save her...!  
  
A flash of light, and the creatures back off. Angewomon has saved Hikari-chan...  
  
The creatures creep back into the sea as I finally reach Hikari-chan. I want to ask if she's all right. I want to ask many things of her. All I do is stare at her.  
  
She hangs her head. "I'm tired."  
  
I place a hand on her shoulder. "Hikari-chan, you'll be all right. I promise."  
  
She looks at me and smiles for a brief moment. Then the weight sags her shoulders again. "Takeru-kun, they called me a goddess. They wanted me to save them. Then they tried to take me to their world, to use my power...Takeru-kun, what's wrong with me?" She sucks in a sob.  
  
Unbidden, the image of Hikari-chan three years ago saving a bunch of Numemon comes to mind. She'd glowed with the same light that Angewomon gives off now. She always seems to know things, on an instinctive level... Maybe there is something special or different about Hikari-chan.   
  
I blink. So, my best friend may be a goddess. And? That doesn't change how I feel about her, or that I'll always protect her.  
  
Spontaneously, I give her a hug. She's surprised -- we've never really engaged in contact like this, not with her body next to mine, it's just not considered appropriate, at our age. She doesn't pull away, though.   
  
"Hikari-chan, it'll be all right. I'll protect you, I'll make sure you'll be all right. I promise you, I'll protect you."   
  
She looks at me and smiles again.  
  
I ride on Pegasmon's back and she rides in Angewomon's arms and we rise up through the air to our own world. I look at Hikari-chan as she looks at me, and we're filled with color, and we smile.  
  
But inside, I make a vow. I will destroy the evil in this world. With my own two hands, I will destroy anything born of evil. Evil threatens Hikari-chan's safety and sanity. And I so want to protect her...  
  
See, I'll stop at no limits to fulfill my promise, because I've already dedicated my heart's focus to one job: protect Hikari-chan.  



End file.
